Burnt to Ashes
by YeahSecretNinja
Summary: When his ghostly enemies start to ignore him, Danny gets frustrated. They consider him more of a nuisance rather than a fret, and Danny feels that he has something to prove. He wants to be feared, he wants to be back in control. But just how far is he willing to go to get this reputation?
1. Chapter 1

**Hai guys! So yeah, this is my first Danny Phantom fanfiction, but hopefully not my last. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I know it seems silly that i'm 14 and I absolutely love DP, but whats not to love! But shush anyways, because if my friends found out about this I would never hear the end of it! Let it be our little secret... Now go on, and enjoy chapter one!**

**Chapter 1**

The small town of Amity Park was unusually quiet today.

Sure, there were plenty of people around, all chattering amongst themselves and minding their own business. Traffic was as normal, several drivers were getting angry as they were made to abruptly stop by some rebellious teens skateboarding across the road. A small jolly tune drifted through the air, strummed by a homeless man who hoped in earning a few pennies for his next meal.

But still, it was too quiet for Danny Phantom.

Where were the screams of terror, the calls for help, and the cries of pain? He wasn't too early was he? Danny glanced down at his wrist and laughed. It wasn't like the ghosts were on a tight schedule or anything. They just turned up and attacked the town whenever they felt like it. And Danny would be there, ready, waiting.

And that was exactly what he was doing right now... waiting. In fact, that was all he was doing. It wasn't like he had anything better to do, both his best friends were busy, and his family was working on some new dangerous ghost weaponry that he wasn't allowed to help with. The young teen sighed loudly, drumming his fingers on the wall that he was leaned against. He had to admit to himself, he was bored.

Bored. That wasn't a feeling that he experienced very often. He never had time for boredom; actually, he barely had time for anything. If it wasn't for Tucker and his PDA, his life would be a total unorganised mess. Mr Lancer had already given him two months detention for never handing in his homework on time. It probably would have been longer if he hadn't managed to overshadow his farther when he was on the phone, and gotten him to explain that Danny was simply too busy to do his homework.

Maybe he should do his homework now - That would definitely put him in Mr Lancer's good books if he handed his homework in early. The young hybrid groaned at the thought. No matter how bored he was, he certainly wasn't THAT bored.

Suddenly a loud scream pierced the air. That was the signal that he had been waiting for. Instinctively, he thrust his fists into the air, and let out his signature battle cry. "I'm going ghost!" He shouted. A white glowing ring appeared at his torso, split into two and travelled in opposite directions across his body, as if they were repelled by each other. As they reached either end of him, they fizzled out into nothing, revealing his black and white hasmat suit, his green glowing eyes, and his bleached white hair. He looked down and smiled as he realised he has successfully transformed into his alter ego. Ignoring the shouts of the excited pedestrians below, he quickly shot off into the air towards the source of the sound.

Seconds later, he had arrived at his destination. He quickly scanned the area, looking for the person who had screamed. He spotted her, hunched up in a ball at the other end of the alleyway.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Danny shouted, slowly walking towards the woman. She glanced up at him and Danny saw that her eyes were red and puffy, obviously from crying. She had short blond hair, which was mostly covered up from her loosely worn grey beanie. She looked like she was in her early 20's, and Danny noticed that she was heavily pregnant. He sped up and ended up at her side, putting his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"I... I couldn't stop him!" She sobbed, rubbing her eyes with her long blue sleeve. "He just barged me over, I couldn't get up... He took my bag and ran." She grabbed her baby bump and gasped, clearly in pain. "I can't move... please ...can you call an ambulance?"

Danny frowned. He didn't have his phone on him, and he didn't want to leave this woman by herself. He could fly off and get help; he would be there and back within minutes. But the woman obviously hadn't noticed his 'ghostliness', and he didn't want to startle her. Wait! He had an idea.

"Hmm, can you walk?" He asked, holding out his hand for her to grab it. Without her noticing, Danny released a little of his healing energy into his palm, which silently flowed into the woman as she grabbed him. He helped her up, and they quickly walked down the street together, towards the taxi rank. Danny knew he had to hurry, his healing powers would only numb her pain for a short time, and it didn't actually repair any of the physical damage done to her.

He knocked on the window of the nearest taxi, and waited for the man inside to role his window down.

"This lady needs to be taken to the hospital... now!" Danny said urgently, opening the door for the woman and helping her in. The taxi driver nodded in understanding. The woman gave Danny a weak smile of gratitude, before the taxi whizzed away.

Danny sighed. That wasn't exactly the ghost fighting action that he was hoping for. He was glad to help that woman, and felt good that he had done so, but still it wasn't the same. He wasn't just your average superhero; he was a ghost fighting superhero. So why should he be stuck doing stuff the police could handle? He growled in frustration, then stopped himself, realising that he was being over dramatic about the whole thing. _"You should be thankful for the peace Fenton; it's not often that you get a break like this." _Sighing once more, Danny took off into the air in the direction of home.

* * *

When Danny arrived back at his room five minutes later, he got even more upset. He shouldn't have been able to get home that quick, some ghost of some sorts should have gotten in his way. Where were all the ghosts? Amity Park was usually crawling with them, no thanks to his farther and the temperamental ghost portal. _"Wait, was the ghost portal broken? If it was, that would explain why there were no ghosts around."_ Danny thought. _"No... It can't be. If it was, I would be able to hear dad sobbing and breaking things. He really does love that portal."_ Danny chuckled to himself, before remembering why he was hoping the portal was broken.

Danny decided to go check the portal anyway; at least it would give him something to do. Instead of phasing through the floor into the lab, he reverted into his human form and took the long way round, just in case his parents were in there.

"Come on Maddie, please..." Jack Fenton begged his wife. Maddie Fenton, who was wearing her usual blue jumpsuit, had a bemused look on her face.

"So you really want this cookie?" She teased, holding a chocolate biscuit a few inches away from his face.

"You know I do! Please Maddie... I'll do anything!" He pulled a face that no adult should be able to do successfully, but sill he managed to beg her with his huge puppy dog eyes.

"Anything?" Maddie cocked an eyebrow at him, before smiling mischievously. "Would you... perhaps... wash the dishes?"

"WASH THE DISHES?! Are you mad woman?" Jack shouted, throwing his arms up in the air and nearly smacking Maddie in the face. "That's Danny's job anyway..." He pouted.

Danny was just about to enter the lab when he stopped. Hearing his name and the word 'dishes' in the same sentence was never good. He was about to retreat when his farther spotted him, and motioned for the younger boy to go over to him.

"Ahh Danny my boy, there's something I want to show you!" Jack announced, momentarily forgetting the cookie that Maddie still had. "It's a new extension for the ghost portal. I call it the Fenton Portal Extension!" Danny rolled his eyes at the name, but Jack ignored him and continued. "Want to know what it does? Of course you do. You see, I can't stop ghosts from using the ghost portal, as it seems to have a mind of its own. But I thought to myself; if I can't stop ghosts from coming out of the portal, why not make it so it's easier to put them back in?" The older man gestured towards a strange looking contraption on the table in front of them. It was the size and shape of a shoebox, but it was made entirely of metal. Strange buttons decorated the sides of it, and a rather large red one was on the top. "Now this baby will help me do just that. When I connect it to the portal, it will project an invisible ectoplasmic wall in front of it. The ghosts won't be able to detect it, so they'll just fly straight through it! And then comes the best part, when they fly through the wall the ghost gets zapped, and that zap will short circuit their ghostly powers for a good few hours. I'm working on a stronger blast to see if I can short circuit their powers for longer, but in the meantime this will have to do."

"So the ghost portal still works?" Danny asked, completely disregarding everything the older man had just said. Jack frowned, upset that his son wasn't more interested in his latest invention.

"Yeah... It does. But don't you think the extension will make it even better?" Jack replied, hoping to at least get a little bit of appreciation for his hard work.

"It's cool dad. I gotta go now though." Danny said, slumping out of the room. The only reason he had come down to the lab was to check up on the portal, he didn't need his dad blathering on about yet another invention that could potentially _kill_ him. He probably should have paid attention to what his dad had said, but he was too annoyed for that. The portal still worked... _So where were all the ghosts?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hiiiii it's me again! This is an early update, because I had nothing else to do, but I think I'm going to do weekly updates from now on. Oh, and sorry the chapters are so short! I've tried to make them as long as I could, but you have no idea how long they take me. I envy the people who can write really long chapters in just a few hours! Also, I haven't figured out how to reply to reviews yet, so thankyou everyone who has (or who will) post a review. It means so much to me! Anyways, I talk too much... So enjoy chapter 2!**

**Chapter 2**

_"And in other news, Amity Park has now been ghost free for 3 days! Many people thank Mayor Masters for this sudden decline in ghost activity, but some say it's all thanks to our very own ghost fighting superhero, Danny Phantom. Although we've all had our doubts about the motives of the ghost kid, you have to admit, he's doing a pretty good job of protecting our town. "_

Danny switched off the TV and flung the remote across his room, not meaning for it to hit the lamp on his bedside table. It wobbled on the edge for a second, before the laws of gravity pulled it down and it smashed into little pieces on the floor. The half ghost sighed and stood up to go and clean up the mess, grumbling quietly as he did so.

"What's up with you, Mr grumpy pants?" Samantha Manson asked him, raising an eyebrow. She was used to his unpredictable mood swings, however today he seemed worse than usual. Maybe it was because of all the ghost fighting they had been doing, but then again, they hadn't really fought a big ghost in a while.

"Yeah man, you should be happy; the town actually loves you for once! Enjoy it while it lasts." Tucker Foley added, only just noticing that his best friend didn't look overly happy.

"Nothing's up, and I'm not grumpy." Danny growled. He wasn't really in the mood for an 'intervention' from his friends.

"Nothing's up?" Sam quizzed, cocking her head in the direction of the broken lamp. "What was that about then?"

Danny knew that they weren't going to drop the subject and move on. But that's why they were amazing friends; they always tried to help no matter what the situation was. Maybe he should tell them about what was on his mind. They might be able to make sense of what he was thinking, even if he couldn't.

"I'm fine guys, really. It's just..." The boy paused. What if they didn't understand? What if they said he was selfish and only thought about his own needs? What if...

"It's just?" Tucker pressed, eager to know what was on Danny's mind. Whatever it was, he was sure he could help. After all, Tucker knew Danny better than Danny knew himself. He'd been friends with the other teen since kindergarten, and they had always supported each other through everything.

"It's just... It's just that I'm bored okay? It's only been three days since I last battled a ghost, and already I feel like I'm going out of my mind." Danny began to pace slowly around the room, and took a deep breath before continuing. "I don't understand what's wrong with me. I've got all this energy building up inside me, and I just want to chuck it at a wall and smash stuff! I should be stopping ghosts from doing that, not doing it myself! And like you said Tuck, I should be happy that the town loves me. But how can I be happy if they love me for something I haven't actually done? That means I'm a fake doesn't it? A false hero...?"

"Danny stop!" Sam interrupted, not wanting to hear another word of his nonsense. "You just need something to do, that's all. You're not a bad person."

"Common dude, stop beating yourself up about everything. Just because you haven't fought a ghost in a while, it doesn't mean you're a fake. All the ghosts are probably scared of you or something, that's why they haven't dared to come near the town." Tucker smiled. His smile grew wider when he noticed that Danny seemed to perk up at his words.

"I guess your right guys." Danny laughed, feeling kind of silly at his sudden outburst. He made the right decision to talk to his friends, the certainly made him feel better.

"Dude, I'm always right! Now come on guys, let's head down to the nasty burger. I heard they've made the Mighty Meaty cheese burger even meatier." Tucker grinned, grabbing both his friends by the arms and dragging them out of the house.

* * *

"Well that was strange." Sam commented, wiping her mouth with a napkin. It might not have been the fanciest place to eat in town, but manners never hurt anyone. Tucker laughed at her, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

"What, the fact that you suddenly became posh?" The dark skinned boy teased, shoving another handful of fries into his mouth.

"No. The fact that we just managed to eat a full meal in peace, without any interruption from our ghostly friends." She said. "And just because I don't eat like an animal, it doesn't make me posh!"

"Yup it does." Tucker replied, purposely letting bits of food fly out of his mouth onto her. She wiped it off in disgust and glared at him.

"Sam's right Tuck." Danny interjected, noticing the tension between his two friends. "It really does seem odd that we haven't seen a ghost in a while. And I know you said their probably avoiding me or something, but our 'friends' have never seemed that scared of me before."

"Yeah no offence mate, but you're not exactly the scariest ghost around." Tucker teased, ignoring Sam's continuous death glare.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" He quizzed, feeling kind of hurt.

"He means Danny, that you're no scarier than a boy dressed up in a bed sheet. The only difference is that you have powers." Sam agreed, smiling at Danny. She looked into his blue eyes, but was confused when she saw that he looked hurt. "Oh no Danny, I didn't mean it like that. What I meant was..."

"I know what you meant Sam. And maybe you're right. Maybe the ghosts are staying away because they're too busy laughing at me, because I'm no scarier than a boy in a bed sheet." Danny grumbled. He was really upset by what his friends just said. He knew they didn't mean to be cruel; but when Sam made that last comment, he felt something snap inside of him. Was that really what they thought of him? And more importantly, were they right? He knew that he wasn't exactly very scary to begin with, but he had liked to think that as time had gone on he had gotten a better reputation. After all the ghosts he had fought, even the ghost king, was he still seen as a clumsy little half ghost? _"Stop being stupid, you know they were just joking. Snap out of it Fenton." _

Tucker and Sam exchanged looks. Neither one of them could think of anything to say to make Danny feel better. They knew they had crossed the line with that last comment, even though they hadn't intended to hurt their friend. But then all of a sudden, Danny grinned.

"I'm sorry guys; I know you didn't mean anything bad. And I also know I'm not a very scary ghost. Can we maybe do something else? Something a little more distracting..." He asked, trying to dismiss his troubling thoughts. He saw his friends sigh with relief, glad that he wasn't too upset with them.

"Sure, what do you want to do? I've got a ton of movies back at my place if you like." The goth girl suggested. She knew Danny loved movies, especially at her home theatre. Heck, everyone loved movies at her home theatre.

Danny opened his mouth to reply, when he felt a gasp of cold air escape from his throat. "Finally! Sorry guys, but I've gotta dash. Catch you later!" He didn't even bother to look back at his friends; instead he ran out of the Nasty Burger and flung himself into the nearest garbage bin. He willed himself to transform into his other half, and two ghostly rings appeared at his waste. Not even waiting to fully change, he turned intangible and shot out of the garbage bin. He was excited.

"Come on then! Where are you?" Danny demanded, scanning the area with his green eyes. He couldn't see anything, but his ghost sense told him that the ghost was close. He circled around the Nasty Burger, and then landed on the roof. "Why are you hiding?! Are you scared that I'm gonna kick your sorry butt?" He yelled. When he got no reply, he tried to focus on his ghost sense to give him a more accurate idea. But he was interrupted when a smug looking ghost appeared in front of him.

"Scared, of you?" Skulker laughed. "No whelp, I was avoiding you."

"Don't you usually stay away from someone when you're avoiding them? You know Skulker, for the world's greatest hunter, you really are stupid." Danny retorted. He flew backward from the ghost, creating some distance between the two before adopting a fighting stance.

"I couldn't help that you were here, ghost child. And as for avoiding you, I would if I could. You're just annoying, and I have a good mind to waste you right now and hang your pelt on my wall. But I haven't got the time." Skulker snapped, turning his back on Danny and flying away in the other direction. But Danny wasn't finished with him yet.

"Get back here! What's the matter with you! Are you scared that I'll beat you Skulker?" Danny shouted, making the hunter stop and face him again.

"No I'm not scared of you whelp. I agree with your friends, you're about as scary as a kid in a bed sheet." Skulker paused for a moment, knowing that he'd hit a nerve in the younger ghost. "I could waste you any day. But I haven't got the time; I have better things to do."

"Come back! I'm not finished!" Danny screamed, desperately trying to get Skulker's attention again. He didn't want to leave without a fight; he'd waited three days for this.

"Well I am. Goodbye, ghost child."

Danny watched as Skulker flew off. He didn't shout him again, as he knew that it would be pointless. Skulker was normally obsessed with him, so what was different now? And what did he have to do that was so important anyway? Danny didn't realise that his friends had come out of the Nasty Burger and had spotted him on the roof. They were calling his name, but he didn't respond. He was too busy wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Danny, come on! It's cold out here!" Tucker called, trying to get the boy to notice him. He was worried, whatever had just happened had really annoyed Danny, and the half ghost wasn't in the best of moods to start with. _"Great, now we have 'the wrath of Danny Phantom' to deal with."_


	3. Chapter 3

**Haha this 'update once a week' thing isn't really working out, so I'm just going to update whenever I feel like it. Thanks once again for your lovely reviews you seriously don't know how much it means to me. If you have any questions about my story, or if you have any criticism (good or bad), please tell me because I really want to improve my writing. Your all amazing - I cant believe your actually reading my story! It's all so wonderful and i'm so happy and... I'm going to stop now XD. Anyways, enjoy chapter 3! **

**Chapter 3**

"Urrgh... I am so bored!" Danny yelled, hurling another ball of bright green ectoplasm at the big oak tree in front of him. The tree couldn't stand anymore of his abuse. It shuddered violently before its roots began to emerge from the ground, sending the insects and creatures around it flying into the air. The hybrid yelped in surprise as the tree fell towards him, and he lunged out of the way just in time. He wiped his forehead with his arm and sighed with relief. The tree hit the ground with a loud crash and a large crack appeared all the way down its trunk, showing the charred insides of the tree.

Danny glanced around, only just realising the major destruction he had done to the forest. The smaller trees were all blackened, some of them had snapped in half as a result of his blasts. The whole ground was scorched, and all the remaining foliage was either on fire or badly burnt. A few birds soared quickly over Danny's head, screeching angrily at him, as if they knew that he was responsible for destroying their home.

"I need to find another way of letting out my frustration; I can't just keep attacking trees..." He mumbled to himself. He felt kind of bad for wrecking this part of the forest, especially since he knew he had no reason to. Although he wasn't the sort of person who wanted to 'save the rain forests' and all that, he still did care a little bit for the environment. He also knew that Sam cared a hell of a lot about nature, and she would, most likely, kill him for attacking the forest.

She'd probably start by saying, _"How could you just go round blasting poor defenceless trees? What has a tree ever done to you? Do you think it's funny, because it can fight back? Oh I'm sorry, did it get in your way? I can hear it crying Danny, it's crying out in pain. All because of you. You know, you can be so selfish sometimes!" _and then she would go on to punch him in the face.

The thing was though; there was nothing else to do. He had thought about going into the ghost zone to let out some frustration, but then he realised that wouldn't be very fair. He would be attacking ghosts for no reason! If they were leaving him alone, it was only fair that he left them alone- right? Unless they were leaving him alone because they were up to something... What if they were planning something big and they didn't want him to interfere? With him out of the way, it would be a lot easier for the ghosts to get away with whatever they were doing. But then again, ghosts weren't really the secretive type. Most of them, especially Technus, liked to scream their plans to the world before carrying them out.

It was a dilemma. If Danny just waltzed into the ghost zone and disturbed everyone for no reason, they wouldn't hesitate to waste him instantly. But if he didn't go, and they were planning something, he would get wasted later on. Either way, they were going to try and waste him. However, he really needed something to do, and if the ghosts did decide to attack him, he would have a reason to fight back.

The half ghost focused some more swirling green energy into his hand. He watched as the different shades of green within the ball seemed to chase each other and dissolve into one another. The sphere tried to force itself out of his grasp, making a weird hissing noise as it did so. Danny couldn't hold the ball any longer, so he thrust it at the large fallen tree.

The blast was strong enough to ignite the tree, and he stood there for a few minutes watching it burn.

* * *

"Sweetie, are you coming to the town hall with us? Mayor Vlad said he has a big announcement to make and your Father has insisted that we go. " His mother asked him, pulling off her red protective eye goggles.

"No time Mom. I've got... um ...really important homework to do!" Danny said quickly, hoping that his mother would just accept his excuse and not ask any questions.

She gave him a quizzical look, as if she didn't really believe what he was saying, but then she shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Okay honey, but you know where we are if you need us. I'll leave the Fenton bazooka on the table, just in case you have any _unexpected_ visitors." She walked over to him and gave him a hug. "By Danny, I love you."

"By Mom, by Dad. Have fun!" He called. His Farther, who was currently in the kitchen, realised they were leaving and quickly rushed out of the front door.

"By Danny!" Jack shouted, turning back to give him a quick wave before dashing over to the Fenton RV. He didn't seem to notice the array of badges and sashes that had fallen out of his pockets as he climbed into the vehicle.

"Dad! You dropped your..." Danny stopped himself, realising what his father had dropped. He walked over to a badge, picked it up, and then threw it back on the ground in disgust. "I'll just burn them instead. " He laughed, kicking the sash that read '_I love Vlad Masters_' to the side.

Danny waited until he saw the Fenton RV turn round the corner onto the next street. Then he shot a small but strong blast of ectoplasm at the pile of Vlads promotional material. He blew the tip of his finger, as if he was blowing the smoke off a gun. Everything on the ground had been incinerated and a black pile of smoking ash was the only thing left behind. Still grinning, he walked cheerfully back inside and headed down towards the lab.

His father had left the lab in a state. Green gloop coated its walls, slowly sliding down into a puddle on the floor. Every work bench was littered with broken beakers and half finished projects, the bin was overflowing with glowing green paper, and the lights flickered on and off temperamentally. The lab also smelled funny, but the halfa couldn't quite make out what the smell was. "I hope he doesn't expect me to clean this up." Danny grumbled. Trying to avoid stepping in the puddles on the floor, he went over to the Fenton portal and placed his thumb on the machine next to it. _'Thumbprint recognised.'_ The machine said, before opening the doors of the Fenton portal to allow Danny in.

"ARRGH!" Danny screamed, falling to the ground clutching his chest. A sheering pain coursed through his entire body, and all he could do was lay there. The pain didn't seem to want to stop, it just kept riveting through him like he had jammed his hand in an electric socket. He tried to open his eyes to search for his surprise attacker, but he couldn't see anything as a dazzling blue light blocked his vision. He tried to scream for help, but he couldn't move his mouth from the intense pain. Even if he had of been able to scream, it would have been hopeless as there wasn't anyone in the house.

Eventually the pain started to subside and the strange blue light slowly faded away. Still clutching his chest, Danny looked around, fearful that his attacker might strike again. "Where are you?" He demanded, trying to stand. But his body was still in shock and his knees buckled under his weight. If he was in ghost form, the blast would have done no more that zap him. But since he was currently human, the attack had left him dreadfully weak. His burnt skin had started to peel away, leaving the pink layers of flesh underneath exposed, causing the hybrid even more pain.

Danny knew he needed to get to the hospital. Another hit like that could be fatal, and there was still no sign of the culprit who attacked him._ 'What sort of ghost attacks and then just runs away?' _He scowled. _'Coward.'_

He managed to push himself up against the nearest wall, not caring when his skin hissed as a result of the ectoplasm on the wall making contact with it. The ghost who attacked had clearly gone; it was obviously satisfied with the amount of damage it had caused. Danny growled, getting even angrier at the thought that the ghost wouldn't stick around to get a taste of his own medicine. _'And what right did he have to attack me when I was in human form? I'm sure that violates some ghost code or something...'_

If he had of been thinking straight, he would have remembered that his body healed quicker when he was in ghost form. But his brain was a mess, full of pain and angry thoughts.

The halfa closed his eyes and allowed himself to rest. He hoped that the announcement that Vlad was making was really big, so that his parents wouldn't come back any time soon and find him slumped here. Actually, he wouldn't have been surprised if Vlad had something to do with this.

#

Danny awoke a bit later on to find himself completely drenched in ectoplasm. He wiped some of it off his forehead and looked up to try and find the clock. It read: 5:05PM.

"Great, I've been asleep for four hours!" He groaned, mentally slapping himself at the fact that he had slept so long. A weird tingling sensation washed over him, making his body suddenly realise that he was exhausted. He was in no state to be going into the ghost zone, especially since he was so weak. Even the box ghost could probably waste him now! But he had really wanted to go, this was his chance to actually do something productive - and even find out if anyone was up to something.

He didn't want to sit around on his bum for another day and do nothing. Even though his body was still aching, his mind was now fully alert and was nagging at him to give it some mental stimulation. "Maybe I could just go and check to see if there's any trouble. I don't need to fight anyone... I could just stay invisible." He said aloud, transforming into his ghost half. Danny pulled up his sleeve just to check if the damage he had just taken had affected his ghost half as well. Sure enough, the pink scars from the burns had been replaced with strange pale green ones- but they didn't look nearly as severe. He ran his finger over one of them, and flinched when his finger made contact with it. He pulled his sleeve back down and took a deep breath, before turning invisible and propelling his self into the ghost zone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay I'm finally done! I know it's been longer than a week for this update, and I'm sorry. But this chapter is quite a bit longer than the previous ones, so hopefully that will be enough to make it up to you. Pleaseeeee tell me what you think, your reveiws mean the world to me, honestly. Anyways, enjoy da chapter! **

**Chapter 4**

The black and green scenery of the Ghost Zone appeared blurred to Danny. He was still dazed from the earlier attack, and his mind felt like mush. He blinked a few times, trying to get his vision to focus.

"Maybe it was a bad idea coming here." He mumbled. He had been so determined to figure out what was happening in the Ghost Zone, he hadn't really paid much attention to the fact that he felt awful. And now he could be putting himself at risk. He was in such a vulnerable state; no ghost would hesitate to attack him if they knew he was so weak. Luckily for him, there didn't seem to be many ghosts around. Hopefully they were all too busy with their evil plots to be floating about.

Danny chuckled softly to himself. A few hours earlier he would have done anything to get some action with a ghost. But now, all he wanted to do was go home and relax. A bowl of soup sounded good right now, along with a nice hot bath to sooth his aching muscles. Why couldn't he have felt like this yesterday when he had nothing to do? Talk about irony.

A sudden wave of dizziness came washing over him, making him grab his head in protest. Now the whole Ghost Zone appeared to be spinning, and it was beginning to make him feel sick. "No, I've changed my mind; it was definitely a bad idea." He groaned, trying to steady himself. His whole body was trembling violently, and Danny knew it was time to go back. He couldn't possibly stay here – not like this anyway.

But before he could even begin to head back, a pink blur shot right past him, making him jump in surprise. It had come from nowhere, and it was travelling so quick that even Danny's ghost sense hadn't detected it. It was closely followed by a blue blur, although this one didn't seem to be going as fast. The blue blur appeared to be chasing the pink one, zigzagging up and down and around Danny's head, nearly catching up before the pink one darted away even faster. Danny watched them for a few moments, noticing that the pink blur was once again getting closer and closer to him. Then suddenly, he jolted in alarm, finally realising that the pink blur was going to hit him. He dived out of the way just in time, turning quickly to see the pink blur collide with the blue one.

"OW!"

Danny's eyes only widened when he saw two ghosts a few feet in front of him. The 'pink blur' was actually a girl ghost. She seemed to be the same age as Danny, although a mischievous glint in her yellow eyes made her look far younger. She had red curly hair, which reached to her shoulders, and was wearing a basic pink dress. The 'blue blur' looked had similar features to the girl, but he was wearing blue shorts and t-shirt. He looked to be about twelve, although he seemed kind of short for his age. His long black hair was styled to the side, covering one of his yellow eyes. He too had a mischievous glint in them. Both of them were holding their heads in pain, grumbling something quietly to each other. But they quickly forgot their pain when they realised they had company.

"Ash, look!" The girl cried, pointing over at Danny.

"The ghost boy!" Ash gasped, looking at Danny with awe. He'd only ever heard rumours about the half ghost; he never actually thought he would meet him in person. He was a legend, one that all of his friends talked about. Apparently he had destroyed towns and cities with one had behind his back, and nobody dared to disrespect him. Because if they did... he would destroy them.

"Are you guys done staring?" Danny asked, snapping out of his trance. These ghosts didn't look like they were going to cause him any harm, but it was kind of creepy that they were staring at him like that.

The boy quickly came back to reality. "Wow! It's really you! I can't believe it – I mean – I can believe it, cos' your... uh... here." He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

His sister, who was annoyed at her brother for embassasing himself, quickly piped in. "Of course it's him! Who else could it be?" She smiled, before holding out her arm. "Hi, I'm Annie! And this is my brother Ash. We're big fans."

Danny looked uncertainly down at Annie's outstretched arm. But then he mentally slapped himself, realising she wanted him to shake her hand. She gave him an odd look, but he just grinned nervously in response. "Hi, I'm Danny." He said, letting go of the girls hand and stepping back a bit.

"We know." Both siblings said in unison.

"Were massive fan's! ...Well my sister isn't as big of a fan as me, so I guess you could say I'm your biggest." He flashed a grin at his sister before adding, "I know almost everything about you, cos' you're like, awesome! I have posers of you in my room and I –"

"Wait, what?" Danny asked, a confused look settling on his face. "You have posters of me? I thought most ghosts hated me?"

"They do. But that doesn't mean we have to necessarily agree. We're teenagers, we can do as we like." Annie said, folding her arms. Nobody could tell her who she could or couldn't like. Her mum may have threatened to ground her for 100 years, but that wouldn't stop her.

"Yeah! And, you're like, well cool! Is it true that you can shoot lasers from your eyes?" The boy quizzed, looking at Danny expectantly.

Danny smiled, knowing that the ghost wanted a demonstration. "You mean, like this?"

Both ghosts jumped back in alarm as Danny fired two blue beams in front of them. But then Ash's face lit up in joy. "That's like, awesome! What else can you do?"

The hybrid was about to do another demonstration of his powers, when his body suddenly reminded him of how tired he was. He gripped his head in pain, and looked up at the two siblings. "Sorry guys, I sort of had a bit of trouble earlier. I'm, uh, not feeling so great." He smiled meekly. Ash frowned at him, clearly disappointed.

"I thought you were supposed to be like, all powerful? And now you're telling me you can't even handle shooting a few laser beams from your eyes?" He growled, his disappointment quickly turning into anger. "Come on! Don't be pathetic! You've destroyed, like, whole cities before! You can't just expect us to accept the fact that you're not feeling well... "

Danny was surprised at the boy's quick change in demeanour, but he just shrugged it off. He knew from experience that ghosts could have a very short temper, and were easily angered if you didn't do what they want. But just because the ghost was having mood swings, it didn't give him the right to boss Danny around.

"Yes I can! I told you; don't feel well, so I'm not just going to waste my last bit of energy pulling a few party tricks for you guys. So yeah, I'm glad you're fans and all, but I've got to go." Danny turned to leave, when the girl stopped him.

"Nobody disappoints my brother." She said darkly. Her hands had balled up into fists, and she took a slow step towards him. Her brother seemed to know what was about to happen, so he floated back a few meters to give his sister some space.

"Whoa, hold on a sec. I thought you guys loved me? You can't just go round hurting your idols, can you?" Danny said quickly, trying to make the girl ghost back off. But she seemed to get angrier at his words.

"Nobody tells me what I can or can't do. And that includes _you_." She growled. Pink energy began to swirl around her fists, and the mischievous glint in her eye had disappeared. Her hair started to blow around, as if there was a gust of wind surrounding only her. Danny opened his mouth to respond, but the girl thrust the energy towards him before he could get a word out.

"Arrgh!" Danny cried as the ball of energy flew towards him. He braced himself for impact, raising his hands over his face to try and protect himself. When the attack did hit, it wasn't nearly as bad as he had expected. If it wasn't for the fact that he was already weakened, it would have hurt no more than falling over and grazing your knee. Still, the blast didn't really hurt that much, it just knocked him back a couple of feet. "Is that all you've got?" He mocked, floating back towards the girl.

Annie's face fell as she realised the blast had done nothing to the half ghost. He seemed to be unfazed by her attack, and even worse, he was mocking her for it. What was she supposed to do now? He'd probably destroy her now that she had tried to attack him. But there was nothing more she could do, he was obviously just as powerful as people said he was. _'Great, out of all the stupid rumours about made up ghosts, this one had to be true'. _She racked her brains trying to think of a solution.

Danny watched the girl, waiting for her next attack. He now knew that she couldn't do any real damage to him, so there was no point wasting his last bit of energy fighting back. Besides, she'd probably run off in a minute anyways – hopefully she had realised that he was much more powerful than her, and that he could easily waste her. Not that he actually would, but she didn't know that.

"Annie, what are we going to do now?" Ash shouted, flying back to his sisters' side. He too, had seen that his sister was no match for the half ghost. And now he was worried.

"You could just go home and leave me alone?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow at the two ghosts.

"You wish." The boy sneered, before lunging towards Danny. He attacked the halfa in the best ways he could; kicking, biting and punching. When these proved unsuccessful, he started to pull at the hybrids hair, yanking it as hard as he could. Danny cried out in pain, and frantically tried to push the boy off him.

"Get- off – me!" Danny yelled. He kicked the boy hard in the stomach in a desperate attempt to get him to let go of his hair. But the boy just pulled harder, and Danny could feel the roots of his hair being painfully ripped away from his scalp. Ash refused to let go, knowing that he needed to cause the halfa as much pain as possible. Since he didn't really have any useful powers, the only way he could inflict pain on the older ghost was by using his hands.

Danny didn't really want to use his energy on the boy, as an attack from this close could be very dangerous for the other boy. But he had no choice, since the ghost wouldn't let go. He willed a small amount of energy into his hands, and used it to push Ash away from him. It had really only meant to be a small push, but he wasn't really thinking straight and it had come out a lot more powerful. Ash was hurtled away from him, screaming loudly as the blast forced him backwards.

Danny instantly flew towards the ghost to check if he was okay. He honestly hadn't meant to hurt him. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly. Ash didn't respond, instead he doubled over and clutched his stomach tightly. "Ash, speak to me. Are you okay – I swear, I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I thought you said you were out of energy." The boy croaked. He slowly opened his eyes and stared up at the halfa who was now holding him. Danny cringed when he saw that the boy was clearly in a lot of pain.

"I was... uh... I am. I just needed you to get off me. I'm so sorry." He apologised. Ash just shook his head.

"You're not sorry. Don't lie to me." His growl was quickly replaced by a whimper as he felt another stab of pain from his abdomen. He looked down to see that the ball of ectoplasm had burnt a hole through his blue t-shirt and had left a deep nasty wound on his stomach. He winced and quickly looked away.

"Should I get you to a hospital? I don't know if there's such thing as a ghost hospital, uh."

"No point. I'm, like, going to die in a few minutes anyway. Well... die for real this time." The boy replied casually. He smiled to himself, knowing that the half ghost was clearly distressed. _"I might as well have a bit of fun with this." _He thought.

"What?" Danny gasped, looking at the boy in alarm. His eyes widened as he saw green wisps of smoke begin to come off the boys' body. "Stop! What's going on! Tell me I can help you!" Danny exclaimed, shaking the boy to try and get him to tell him something. When Ash just smiled, Danny panicked even more. "You're not going to die! Stop it!"

"Haha, you're like, so pathetic. Can't you handle the fact that you've just wasted me? " He grinned. The wisps of smoke began to collect around his body quicker, and within seconds his whole body was engulfed in a dark green mist.

"Stop it! I didn't waste you! I didn't even hit you that hard!" Danny cried. He was so distraught that he didn't notice that the boy had disappeared from within his grasp. Tears strolled down his cheeks as the realisation of what he had done hit him. _"I killed him. I'm a murderer."_

He had told himself that he would never use his powers for evil. No matter how powerful or evil the other ghost was, he would never try to kill it. He would always just trap it in his thermos and send it back to the Ghost Zone, hoping that it would have learnt his lesson. Nothing deserved to die, no question about it. What right did he have to take someone else's life? Just because he could, it didn't mean he should. Killing was wrong. Killing was evil.

He wasn't evil though, was he? It was just an accident, after all. It was just supposed to be a little push, just to get the boy off him. He had no choice – the boy wouldn't let go! He was tired, and didn't realise how much energy he was putting into the blast. He wasn't evil... It was an accident! _"You can make excuses all you want. You still killed someone." _His conscience whispered.

Ash materialized a few meters away from where Danny was sobbing. His sister, who had been unable to do anything the whole time, finally realised that her brother was okay and quickly rushed over to him. "What the... are you okay?" She asked quickly, checking her brother for any signs of serious injury.

"Yeah I'm totally fine! Well, my stomach, like, really hurts, but it'll heal soon." He reassured her. He wasn't expecting the hug from his sister and gasped when she held him tightly.

"I was so worried! You just disappeared; I thought the halfa wasted you."

"Ha, he couldn't hurt a fly! Have you seen how upset he is? He's like, crying because he thought he wasted me. Common, how pathetic is that?" Ash laughed.

"Aren't you worried that he'll be angry that you tricked him?" She asked, the worry still present in her tone.

"Nah, we'll be long gone before he finds out." He looked over to where Danny was still crying and added, "Besides, how many other ghosts can say that they made the notorious Danny Phantom cry?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, okay, I know it's late. But I decided to take someones advice and not rush my writing just because I feel like I have to meet a deadline. So you can be angry at me for taking a while to update, but I don't even care. This is my longest chapter yet, and I'm actually quite proud of it. Enjoy! XD**

**Disclaimer: I do not (unfortunately) own Danny Phantom. If I did, there would be another 158576890 shows right now and I would be rolling in money and laughing evily to myself... um. **

**Chapter 5**

Danny wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there, sitting at his desk, staring at his hands. He wasn't even really sure how he had gotten back home, but he was too filled up with grief to care.

"Little brother?" His sister called from the doorway, gently tapping on the door with her knuckles. She frowned when he didn't answer her, and slowly walked over to where he was sitting. "Are you okay?"

Danny didn't even bother to look up; he just buried his head deeper in his hand. He felt his sister put a hand on his shoulder, and he had to make a conscious effort not to cringe at her touch. _'You don't deserve her sympathy.' _His mind growled, making another tear fall from his sore puffy eyes.

"Danny, speak to me. I'm your sister, I can help."

"No Jazz, go away." He mumbled, moving his shoulder to get her off him. He didn't want her to be here, he needed to be alone. _'You deserve to be alone. You're a monster.'_

Jazz pouted, trying to think of something else to say. She wanted him to tell her what his thoughts were, but she wasn't going to force him to tell her anything he didn't want to. As much as she would have liked to try to use some of the new skills she had learnt about psychology from her new book, she knew now wasn't the time.

She heard a soft whimper escape from her brother, and she watched him shudder violently. It wasn't normal for him to behave like this; usually he would just stay quiet if he was upset. He hardly ever cried; actually, she couldn't remember the last time that he had cried. Her brother was a strong person. He kept his emotions from everyone else, only letting them out if absolutely necessary. Something was very wrong with him, she couldn't wait any longer. She had to make him talk; it hurt too much to see him like this. He was her little brother, and it was her job to make sure he was alright. No - it was her responsibility.

"Danny, I'm only trying to help you. You know you can't hide this from me forever; I will find out what's going on eventually. You might as well get it over with now and tell me rather than let me find out later. I've told you before that it's not good to keep all your feelings bottled up like this. Crying may make you feel better right now, but it will only help in the short term. After a while you'll just feel ...empty." She paused for a moment to see if Danny was listening, but he didn't say anything so she just continued talking, "It's a proven fact that you're more likely to become depressed if you don't let other people help you with your issues. If you don't speak to me, all your thoughts will build up until it gets too much, and -"

"I said go away, Jazz." Danny sighed, cutting her off.

She felt a bit hurt by the fact that he wasn't even willing to listen to what she had to say. Didn't he see that she was trying to help? She cared so much about him, but all he seemed to do was push her away. It hadn't been so bad lately; Danny had been more open to her and told her what was going on in his life. It made her happy to know that she was no longer being kept in the dark about everything, and that he didn't constantly lie to her. They had made so much progress with their bond in the last few weeks, what was different now? Maybe she was over-reacting. Her brother was obviously upset, and needed some time to himself. She should respect that fact that he wanted to be alone.

"Okay little brother. But just remember, I'll always be here for you when you need me." She smiled sadly. Her instincts told her to cuddle her brother, tell him that it was all going to be okay. But instead, she just patted his arm and walked back out of the room.

* * *

*Ding Dong*

Maddie looked up from the book she was reading – _Understanding Ghost_ _Behaviour_ - and frowned. It was late, so who on earth was calling at this time? She hoped it wasn't one of Danny's friends, because although she loved them very much, it became a tad annoying when they were around all the time. Sometimes they would just invite themselves in without asking her first, which she thought was rather cheeky of them.

*Ding Dong*

No it wasn't Danny's friends, they would have shouted for her to let them in. It could be a sales call; they sometimes decided to try their luck at this time of night. But they too were annoying; once she opened the door to them they wouldn't leave her alone, they would just bombard her with discounts and special offers. The only way she could ever get them to leave was if she bought some crappy product that she wouldn't ever use and certainly didn't need.

*Ding Donggg*

She let out a long sigh, before forcing herself to put the book down and get up off the couch. Whoever it was, they didn't seem to be going away. Slowly, she walked over to the door, not putting any effort into her movements whatsoever. It was _way_ too late for this.

"Ahh Maddie my dear, how lovely you're looking!" Vlad Masters beamed, pushing past her and letting himself into the house. He ignored the glare that Maddie gave him and made his way into the centre of the living room. "I'm sorry to bother you so late, but I was sure you wouldn't mind. We are good friends, after all."

Maddie couldn't believe it. This man had just waltzed into her house at god knows what time, and he just expected her to be okay with it. He even had the cheek to call her a _good_ friend, when she had made it very clear in the past that she did not want to be friends with him. He was a creep, and she didn't allow creeps into her home. The only reason that her family was still in contact with the man was the fact that Jack absolutely adored him. If it wasn't for that, she would have slapped him many times over and kicked him right off the face of the earth.

"Oh Madeline, why the angry face? I'm only here to see how you and your wonderful family are doing. That's not a problem is it?" Vlad smiled, giving Maddie a look of innocence. But Maddie could see right through his facade, and was having none of it.

"You never just come to _check up_ on my family Vlad. You know full well that you are not welcome here. My daughter doesn't like you; my son certainly doesn't like you, and most importantly, I don't like you. My husband may think of you as a friend, but that's because he has a big heart and can't see the bad in anyone. If he could see the bad in you, he wouldn't like you either." She said in a low voice, trying to make herself sound threatening. "Why are you here Vlad? And don't give me any lies, I want the truth."

"I'm not lying, my love. Trust me when I tell you that I am only here out of the goodness of my heart. It saddens me to know that you think that way about me, I don't understand where all this has come from. We used to be such good friends Maddie, what has changed now?"

Maddie still didn't believe a word Vlad was saying. She knew he was trying to make her feel guilty, and it wasn't working. He was a horrid man, and nothing he could say would make her change her mind.

"I don't know Vlad. I don't think anything has changed between _us_, I think that it's just you that has changed. I don't know why, but you have. And I don't like it Vlad; I don't understand why you have become so wicked. I haven't done anything to you, and neither has Jack. You used to be so kind and caring... So you tell me, Vlad, what has changed?" She quizzed, looking straight into the man's eyes. The expression on his face confused her, he seemed almost... sad? Did he regret becoming such a character?

Back in her collage days, Vlad was a completely different man. You could say he was a gentleman; he was always looking out for others and wanting to help people in need. She would have never thought that this man standing in front of her was the same man she was friends with all that time ago. She used to be best friends with him, she and Vlad used to do everything together. She was very close friends with Jack too, but not half as close as she was with Vlad. It was only when Vlad had the accident that she began to get closer to Jack. With Vlad out of the way, she realised how much she loved the man in the bright orange jumpsuit. He would cheer her up when she was feeling down, something that Vlad used to do. Before she knew it, she and Jack were in love. It was wonderful; she had never felt so happy in her entire life. But for some reason, when she told Vlad about her love for Jack, he didn't seem at all happy. Actually, now she thought about it, that was when he started to act... strange. Could it be that Vlad's wickedness had all stemmed from her love with her husband? Vlad had said many times that he was in love with her, and that she should leave Jack for him. She had to be sure.

"Is it because I fell in love with Jack?"

Vlad stiffened at her words. She could almost see the anger boiling up inside him, as if he was going to explode at any minute. His eyes even seemed to flash to red for a split second, although she knew that wasn't possible. It was probably a trick of the light. He took a slow step towards her, and she was scared that he might hit her or something. After all, Vlad was a very unpredictable man. Who knew what he would do when he got upset? His hands clenched into fists and he took another step towards her, so now they were within arm's length of each other. She could feel her heartbeat quicken, almost certain that the man was going to hurt her.

But then all of a sudden, he seemed to calm down. Taking a deep breath, he turned around and walked away from her. He made his way to the couch and sat down, relaxing on the cushions. He looked up at her, every bit of anger appearing to be gone.

"Vlad?" She questioned, confused at the man's complete change of attitude. Vlad smirked at her, before grabbing a newspaper off the coffee table next to the couch and flicking through it.

"Yes my dear?"

She was about to ask him about why he behaved so dramatically, but suddenly her Jazz came into the living room. Her daughter's troubled look made her forget all about Vlad, and she rushed over to her to find out what was the matter.

"Jazz honey, what's wrong?" She asked, a feeling of motherly concern washing over her. Jazz shook her head and smiled.

"I'm fine mom, don't worry about me. I just came down to get a drink." She paused for a moment, as if she was going to say something else, but she seemed to decide against it.

"Jazz... What are you not telling me?" Maddie quizzed, noticing that her daughter was keeping something from her.

Jazz looked like she was having an internal debate, but then she just sighed and said, "It's just Danny, mom. I'm worried."

"Has your brother hurt you Jasmine? If he's done anything to upset you, anything at all, you don't have to keep it from me. I know you-"

"No, mum! Danny hasn't upset me... well not in the way you're thinking anyway. I'm worried because he's upset, and he won't tell me what's wrong. I thought I could help him, but he doesn't seem to want my help. I feel like I've failed him, mom. I'm supposed to be his big sister, and I can't seem to do anything to make him happy!" Jazz exclaimed. Tears started to well up in her eyes and she looked like she was about to cry. Maddie immediately went over to her daughter and gave her a reassuring hug.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sure your brother's fine. You know what he's like; sometimes he needs some time to himself. I would go up and check on him, but we have company." She gestured over to where Vlad was sitting on the couch. Jazz's head snapped up and she pulled away from her mother.

"Vlad? Why are you here?" She asked, not even trying to hide the hate in her voice. Vlad just looked up from the newspaper and smiled innocently at her.

"What, is your good old Uncle Vlad not allowed to visit anymore? I'm hurt." Vlad teased, pulling a face of fake hurt. Noticing that neither Jazz nor her mother were smiling at his comment, he straightened himself up a bit and put the newspaper back down on the couch. His pretend frown had quickly turned into a wicked grin. "Well, since I'm not wanted down here, perhaps I should go check up on the boy. I'm sure he'll be delighted to see me. Is that okay, Madeline?"

"No!" Jazz shouted, running towards the stairs to block Vlad from going up. Her mother arched an eyebrow at her strange behaviour, and she quickly corrected herself. "I mean... err... Danny's sleeping! All this homework he's been doing... Poor Danny, he's probably exhausted. I keep telling mom that Mr. Lancer makes him work way too hard. He's only just fallen asleep; it would be cruel to disturb him now." She internally winced at her horrible lie, but managed to look at Vlad Masters with a sheepish smile.

"I'm just going to go check on him. He might actually be awake now; you know teenagers and their temperamental sleep patterns. If he is truly asleep, I promise I won't disturb him." He glanced over to Maddie to see what her reaction would be.

Feeling Vlad's gaze on her, Maddie knew that she had to make a decision. She didn't really want the man snooping round her house, but she wanted him out of her sight before she did something she regretted. Even just looking at the billionaire was enough to make her blood boil. "Fine, but only to check on him. Once you're done I want you to leave. I'm not being funny Vlad, but it really is getting rather late."

"Of course, I understand. Now if you'll excuse me, Jasmine." Vlad said, trying to push past the girl who was still standing in front of the stairs.

"But mom!" Jazz protested, really not wanting Vlad to go see Danny. He was in such a fragile state; the last thing he needed was a visit from his arch enemy. But she knew her battle was a losing one, as her mom just cocked her head as if to say 'move'. She begrudging let Vlad past her and watched in anger as he gracefully made his way up the stairs. _'He better not try anything.'_ She growled.

* * *

Vlad started to question whether he actually wanted to go and see Daniel. If Daniel really was as upset as Jasmine made out, there was no telling how the boy would react at his sudden appearance. He couldn't have Daniel just firing ectoblasts at him when Maddie and Jasmine were in the room below, no doubt trying to listen to see if he was up to something. He knew that they didn't want him up here, so they would come up here immediately if they thought something was wrong. He paused outside the boy's door, staining his ears to see if he could hear the sound of snoring. He did hear something, but it certainly wasn't snoring. It was a strange snuffling sound, followed by a few soft sobs. Was Daniel crying? Vlad turned intangible and stuck his head through the door to try and see the boy. He spotted Daniel in the far corner of the room, sitting at his desk next to the window. He had his head in his hands, and he did indeed appear to be crying. Slowly and silently, he phased his whole body through the door and floated over to where Daniel was sitting. He knew the boy wouldn't detect his presence, since he had managed to suppress his ghost signature many years ago.

"Daniel?" He asked softly.

Danny wasn't even sure where he was anymore. All that he knew was that the horrible memories of what happened earlier wouldn't leave him alone. He wanted it to stop; he wanted it to go away. But he knew it wouldn't, since he knew he deserved it. It was his punishment, and no amount of crying would make it stop. He felt his body begin to shake as the dark thoughts continued to swirl around in his mind.

_"You're evil."_

_"You're a murder."_

_"How can you ever tell your sister what you've done? She'll hate you forever. She'll think you're a monster. "_

_"You're no better than Vlad."_

_"What sort of hero are you?"_

He mumbled 'no' softly to himself over and over again. But the darkness kept slicing into his skin like blades.

_"I'm still here, I still exist. That means you still turn into me."_

The tears began to fall more rapidly and small shaky sobs escaped from his mouth. He shut his eyes tightly, hoping that it would all just go away. But the images of the young boy's death played across his closed eyelids, refusing to let him forget what he had done even for a second.

_"Haha, you're like, so pathetic. Can't you handle the fact that you've just wasted me?"_

He felt the darkness in his mind begin to seep into the rest of his body. It pierced through his veins and travelled along his bloodstream, infecting every cell it touched. It disintegrated his nerves and rotted his bones, mercilessly destroying his fragile form. Eventually it reached the most vital organ in his body, and paused for a moment, as if it was deciding what to do. Then it began to snake lazily around his heart, wrapping its dark tentacles around it, feeling his whole life-force in its grasp. It laughed evilly and slowly crushed it until there was nothing left but dust.

He didn't need it anymore, he didn't deserve to live.

"Daniel?"

The voice sounded faint and far away. Danny didn't bother to acknowledge it; it was probably just his sub-conscience reminding him of the people that he had lost when he had died. He was dead, wasn't he? The darkness had crushed his heart and left him lifeless. It was a suitable punishment for the crime he had committed. That's why he had accepted his fate so willingly; he knew he deserved it. Death was actually quiet peaceful. He didn't feel as bad anymore, since he had now suffered the same fate that he had caused for the boy. They were equal now; there wasn't much else he could do about it. After all, what was a worse punishment than death?

"Daniel?"

The voice sounded louder this time, and it almost sounded familiar. He mentally went through a list of his loved ones, trying to match the sound of the voice to their faces. It wasn't a woman, the voice was too deep. But the only other males that he cared deeply for was his dad and Tucker, and the voice didn't sound like it belonged to them either. So who else could it be? It had to be someone he knew, since the voice was just a memory.

"Are you okay, little badger?"

Dannys' head snapped up instantly at the mention of his stupid pet name. Only one person called him that...

"Plasmius." Danny spat out, sliding his chair a little further away from the older half ghost. He momentarily forgot that he was supposedly dead and glared at his arched enemy. "Come to ruin my afterlife too?"

"What?" Vlad chuckled, looking at Daniel in disbelief.

"Is this some sort of sick joke? I'm dead. So if you don't mind, I'd like to continue being dead in peace." He growled, hate burning through his eyes.

_'The poor boy must have finally snapped.'_ Vlad thought to himself. He had always been concerned for the boys' sanity; after all, he did live with two extremely deranged parents. But he hadn't worried that much, since he knew Daniel had very strong mental stability. He himself had tried to make the boy snap, but every time Daniel had come bouncing back even stronger than before.

"Well?" Danny demanded anger still present in his voice.

"I don't really know what to say, dear boy. You've clearly lost your mind."

"I have not lost my mind! I. Am. Dead. Please leave me alone!" He shouted, burying his head back into his arms.

"And what on earth has made you come to that decision?" Vlad asked, still staring at the boy in utter confusion. He didn't understand what was wrong with Daniel. It didn't make any sense.

"I felt myself die. But I deserved it, so I don't mind. Please, just go."

"You're not dead, Daniel. Well actually, I suppose you are half dead. Is that what this is about? Have you only just come to terms with the fact that you are half dead? Foolish boy, I thought you would have figured that out a long time ago. I can't believe-"

"I know I was half dead, Plasmius. I'm not stupid. I'm fully dead now. I don't know how you got here, or why you are still here, but I asked you to leave. So can you just respect my final wish and go?" Danny sighed, although he sounded as if he was almost pleading with the older man.

Still not understanding what was going on, Vlad decided to just go along with Daniels' silly game. Maybe then he would get some answers. "Okay Daniel. If you are really dead, how did you die?"

Danny paused for a moment. He wasn't really sure what had happened, all he knew was that he was dead. A few possibilities flew through his head, so he just picked out the one that made the most sense. "I killed myself- or at least I think I did."

"Why?"

"Because I deserved it. I just felt so guilty; I decided that the best thing to do was to die."

"And what made you feel that bad that you felt you had to end your own life because of it?"

Danny slowly looked back up at Vlad, tears welling up in his eyes again. "I killed someone Vlad. I killed some poor innocent ghost. I murdered him, wasted him. I'm a monster..." The tears began to fall again, washing away the tear stains already on his face and replacing them with fresh ones. "I don't know how you do it Vlad. How can you just kill things without any mercy? How does it not tear you apart?"

Vlad closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. So that was what this was all about? The boy had worked himself up so much just because he thought he had killed a ghost? This was ridiculous, it had to stop now. "I don't kill ghosts, Daniel." He sighed, now looking rather bored.

"Yes you do! I've seen you do it countless times! You just waste people who don't please you or do their job properly. It's sick Vlad. You can't even lie to me about it because I've watched you -"

"Ghosts can't die!" Vlad interrupted. "If you destroy a ghost, it simply reforms somewhere else in the Ghost Zone. If you injure a ghost bad enough, it will flee from you and travel somewhere else so it can recover. If the ghost can see that you are superior to it, it will flee so that it doesn't have to risk being transported to another area of the Ghost Zone. Ghosts are already dead, they can't die again. It they are wasted, it's just an inconvenience for them, since they have to put a lot of energy into finding their way back home."

"You mean?" Danny asked, his eyes wide with confusion. Now it was his turn to look at Vlad in disbelief.

"Yes my dear boy, you didn't kill that ghost. And you are certainly not dead." He moved closer to Danny, his eyes turning a deadly blood red. "But I can make arrangements for that to happen if you would like."

The confusion was quickly pushed aside and was replaced by fear for the man standing in front of him. Danny felt his energy start to pile up inside of him, preparing him to morph at the sign of any sudden movements. It didn't matter about what he was feeling right now; this man was an enemy, and he had a duty to protect people from enemies.

"It was a joke, Daniel. Calm down, I have no intention of hurting you. If I had wanted to cause you harm I would have done so when you were sobbing into your desk just a few moments ago." He said, patting the boy on the head. Danny let out a low growl and shoved Vlad's hand away from him. "There's no need to be so touchy, I only want to help."

"No you don't." Danny growled, never taking his eyes of the enemy in front of him. "You just want to manipulate me. Take advantage of me when I'm down and confused. I'm not my dad; you can't fool me that easily."

"I swear to you that I am not taking advantage of you. But it appears to me now that it would be quite easy to do so. You were fooled by that ghost, were you not? It saw the weakness in your hero side and used it to its advantage to allow it to get away. It manipulated you." Vlad replied, looking smug.

Realisation hit Danny and the confusion and fear was now gone completely. There was only anger left now. "Oh my god, he did trick me didn't he? I can't believe it! He's probably somewhere in the Ghost Zone laughing at me and thinking about how pathetic I am. I can't believe that I let him fool me! No doubt he's probably told the rest of the Ghost Zone... Oh my god I am so stupid. I just felt sorry for him; I really thought that I had murdered him. Do you know how upset I was? I wanted to die Vlad... I thought I had died" He stood up and began pacing around the room, his hands balled into fists. He was unaware of the energy that was pulsing off him in waves, getting stronger and stronger as his anger built up. Vlad noticed though, and was beginning to feel the effects.

"I know your angry, dear boy, but there's nothing you can do about it now. Please just calm down." He gasped, trying not to choke on the green mist that had filled the room.

"How can I calm down? You said it yourself, that ghost manipulated me. Now everyone's going to think that I'm weak! They're all going to try and take advantage of me, because they think that if they try hard enough they can mess with my emotions. But why shouldn't they try? It not like I'm scary or even gave them a reason to back off. I'm no scarier than a boy in a bed sheet after all. They'll take any chance they get now, they'll all want to ..."

Vlad couldn't even hear the boys rant anymore. The air was now so thick with green smoke that he couldn't see or hear anything. So he did the only thing he could do; he teleported out of the room. He materialised just outside of Danny's room and slumped against the door. His head was spinning from the lack of oxygen, but he didn't really care. A small but rather evil chuckle escaped from his mouth as a huge grin spread across his face. He finally had a way to break the boy... and he didn't have to lift a finger.

**So, whatcha think? I finally added Vlad into this and I have big plans for him *grins evily!* I'm already halfway through writing the next chapter, so expect another update soon. Also, I really need someone to beta this story - if your interested, please let me know through a PM or a review or something. Now I'm off to eat some peanut butter... See ya! **


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, it's me again! This chapter was just a filler, I have a really great idea for how I want this story to go but I just cant seem to get it RIGHT. So you can have this for now :P I know it's not as long as the last chapter, but you'll just have to accept that it's really hard for me to write big chapters. I'm improving though! **

**Chapter 6**

When placed in stressful situations, teenagers deal with their anger in different ways. Some like to take deep breaths and count upwards from one, hoping that by the time they reach ten their anger will have subsided. Others take a more verbal approach and like to scream their feelings to the world, often using words that are deemed inappropriate to modern society.

Danny Fenton likes to obliterate trees.

It couldn't object, it can't even speak, so there was nothing stopping Danny from _'tearing it apart molecule by molecule'_. He wasn't really bothered about how he had stopped himself from doing the same thing only a few days ago, it was a good stress reliever. And besides, he was in a different area of the forest so it wasn't impacting the environment too much. He wasn't hurting anybody, and all the wildlife had long since fled from this area so he wasn't harming that either. He could throw everything he had at the tree and all it would do was burst into flames. There was something calming about watching something burn, it was spectacular to watch. The flames danced so elegantly across the bark of the tree, and yet it caused so much damage at the same time. Fire reminded Danny of the ectoplasmic balls he could make. It was similar to ectoplasm in many ways; it was beautiful, dangerous, and very hot.

"Stupid ghost... Thinks it can manipulate me..." Danny mumbled quietly to himself. He willed more ectoplasm into his hand and moulded it into a disk like shape before hurling it at the tree. The disk cut the burning tree clean in half and the top half fell to the ground with a crash.

"Everybody will want to take advantage of me now won't they? They think they're all so clever..."

Although he was in his human form, his blasts were still very powerful. His energy had become strengthened with all his emotions, so it had become a much darker green than usual. Danny's usually blue eyes were a toxic green, and were glowing so brightly that you would probably be blinded if you looked into them. But Danny was unaware of all of this, as he was still trapped deep within his thoughts.

"Bed sheet ghost... I'll show them a bed sheet ghost." He growled. He formed another green ecto-disk in his hand, but this time he didn't throw it. He rubbed a finger over the disk, fascinated at the fact that it didn't burn his fingers even though it was extremely hot. It wouldn't burn him, but both Sam and Tucker knew from experience not to touch the energy that Danny could make; it could be really harmful to humans. He always tried to keep his friends away from all his fights, because he didn't want to accidently hit them and cause them any damage. He would never forgive himself if he did.

He let the ecto-disk absorb back into his and sat on the grass with a sigh. He hadn't really achieved anything by coming out here; he didn't feel calm at all. If anything he felt more worked up and angry, the conversation with Vlad was still fresh in his mind and he wasn't really sure what to make of it all. The ghost had tricked him, so what? Was he supposed to go all out and create some super crazy scheme and extract his revenge? No... That was something Vlad would do, not him. He knew he needed to do something though, as he couldn't have all the ghosts thinking he was a pushover. He needed to prove himself somehow...

The sound of snapping twigs behind him immediately snapped him out of his thoughts. He sprung to his feet and whirled around, ready to blast the ghost that had disturbed him.

"Danny?"

He recognised the two figures before him as his parents. They were both dressed in their usual brightly coloured jumpsuits and were staring at him with confused looks on their faces.

"What... What are you doing here?" Danny spluttered, awkwardly moving so he was no longer in a battle stance. He rubbed the back of his neck with unease.

"I was just about to ask you the same question young man. Me and your farther detected some ectoplasmic disturbances in this area so we came to check it out." His mother said sternly. She folded her arms and gave Danny a cross look. "What are you doing here? I thought you were at home with Jazz..."

"Maddie look, that tree is on fire!" Jack informed her, running forward to grab Danny's arm and pulling them both away from the burning tree. Danny rolled his eyes at their slow observation skills and allowed himself to be dragged for further questioning by his parents. He wasn't sure what he was going to tell his parents; it wasn't like he could say, _"Oh don't worry about the tree, mom. It was me that set it on fire because I needed to let off some steam. That's why I'm out here."_

"Young man, you tell me what's going on right now. Why are you out here? Why is that tree on fire? What are you doing?" Maddie quizzed, giving her son a cold hard glare. Danny shifted uncomfortably on his feet, hoping that by ignoring his parents they would leave him alone.

"Well?"

"Erm... well you see, I heard that there was a ghost down here, so I came to check it out?" He paused, quickly trying to string together the rest of his lie. "You guys work so hard, I wanted to give you a break from everything. When I got here the ghost was just blasting things, but I told it that I was Jack Fenton's son and it just ran away." Danny smiled to himself, slightly proud at how convincing his story had sounded.

His mother frowned, unsure whether to believe her son or not. She knew he often lied to her, even about small things; like how he'd gotten that bruise on his leg, or why he always looked so tired all the time. But his story made sense, and she couldn't help the small smile that was creeping onto her face in admiration for her son. He had wanted to help!

"Awh Danny, I'm so proud of you son. I always knew that this day would come; after all, ghost fighting is in your blood! Now your mother and I will have to teach you about how to deal with ghosts safely, we don't want you to get hurt. You can even help us go after Phantom! I know how much you hate that spook." His farther beamed, patting Danny on the back with a bit more force than necessary. Danny coughed violently when his breath was ripped out of him, and moved away from his Dad to avoid being 'patted' again.

"Now sweetie, it's getting late and I'm sure Jazz will be worried if she finds out you've just disappeared like that. Go home; there are some hot dogs on the side that can be heated in the microwave. Don't worry, we won't be long; we just need to make sure that the ghost is gone." Maddie smiled.

"Okay fine. I guess I'll see you guys at home." He sighed, slowly trudging past his parents to head home. He didn't really want to go; he didn't feel at all calm yet. But he couldn't argue with his mother- if he did she would only ask questions.

"Bye Danny." Both his parents said. They had already become distracted in looking for the ghost, and didn't bother to spare him a second glance. Jack abruptly pulled out his ectogun, and it caught on his jumpsuit causing it to send random beams of energy everywhere. Danny took this as his cue to leave, and quickly excited the forest to avoid being blasted.

* * *

In any normal household, a microwave is a useful contraption that heats up food for you. In the Fenton's house, a microwave is a death trap that transforms food into deadly monstrous beings.

"Get off me!" Danny yelped, trying to shake off the hotdog that had bitten the end of his finger. Several other hotdogs were rampaging across the kitchen worktop, destroying everything in their sight. Their little red eyes and sharp pointy teeth made them look creepy, but they really were harmless... Well apart from the nasty bites that they could give.

"Need some help little brother?" Jazz asked, looking up from the sandwich she was making and noticing the war going on between Danny and the hotdogs.

Another hotdog lunged at his face, but Danny swatted it away making it fall onto the floor. The impact seemed to of reversed the effects on the hotdog, and its unearthly green light faded leaving the battered remains of the processed sausage behind. "Nah, I'm okay. I think I can handle it." He grinned, stepping on the hotdog when it started to reanimate itself.

"Hmm, you sure? They seem to be giving you a hard time." She laughed. Her grin widened when several hotdogs jumped from off the top of the fridge and landed in Danny's hair, causing him to cry out in surprise. He shook his head furiously in a mad attempt to get the things out of his hair. "I think I should call the news. I'm sure they would love to see the great Danny Phantom battle animated canned food..."

"Shut up Jazz!" He growled, sending her a glare. This only made her laugh harder, and she fell to the floor in hysterics. Sighing in annoyance, he turned intangible and the hotdogs in his hair fell to the ground.

They seemed to sniff the air, as if they were trying to smell where he was, and started to search around the kitchen in a pack. Danny shot mini ectobeams out of the end of his finger at the unsuspecting hotdogs, and one by one they disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Jazz, who had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard, finally calmed down enough to stand up and go back to making her sandwich. She grabbed another two slices of bread, realising that Danny would want some food after his had just tried to eat him. "Oh come on Danny, stop being so grumpy. You know I didn't really think you would get beaten by some hotdogs." She said, trying to restrain herself from having another fit of laughter.

"I bet you did..." Danny grumbled, an odd look appearing on his face. Jazz raised an eyebrow, confused as to why Danny was taking everything so seriously. How could he not see the funny side? He had just been attacked by rabid hotdogs!

"Are you okay? I was only messing with you; it was supposed to be a joke." She said, cutting the sandwiches in half and passing one to her younger brother. Danny gratefully accepted the sandwich and took a big bite out of it, trying to fill his mouth as much as possible so he wouldn't have to talk. The peanut butter and jelly filling smeared onto his face, but he didn't wipe it off and instead continued to ram sandwich into his mouth. His cheeks were so full that he looked rather like a chipmunk, and it looked like he was having a hard time chewing his food.

"I'm...mm...fine...mm...Jazz." He spluttered, trying his best to keep his lunch inside his mouth.

Jazz, being an expert in irrational behaviour and all things psychological, noticed immediately that Danny was trying to hide something from her. Her brain went into overtime as she tried to quickly work out why her brother was acting oddly. _"I wonder if it's got anything to do with what happened yesterday. I don't know though, he seemed fine this morning..."_ She thought to herself.

"You sure?" She asked, cringing a bit when a dribble of lumpy purple jelly escaped from the corner of his mouth and ran down his chin. Danny only nodded, before turning his back on her and heading quickly out of the kitchen.

"Thanks for dinner Jazz! And don't worry about me, I'm fine!" He called, sounding like he was already half way up the stairs. Jazz sighed, realising that Danny was not going to tell her anything willingly. If she wanted to find out what was going on with him she was going to have to do some investigating.

** I really enjoyed writing the hot dog scene, it just made me laugh. My English teacher wants us to do a short piece of writing every day to help us with our English, so I might give her this last scene just to see what her reaction would be. Omg, I think she would die of shock or something XD. Anyways, thanks for reading and please review! CHOW!**


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